Space borne SAR observations of oceanic internal waves in North Bay of Bengal

Sea surface manifestations of internal waves (IW) in the shallow continental shelf waters of North Bay of Bengal have been observed in almost all seasons imaged by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images of ERS1/2 and Envisat ASAR missions during the period 1993–2004. Shoreward propagating short-period IW packets are observed particularly in summer stratified coastal waters Off Chilka region. In summer waters, prominent short-period shoreward propagating internal waves of consecutive imageries of ERS-1/2 SAR (12th and 13th April 1996) are studied. On 4th October 2003, Envisat ASAR imaged strong surface manifestations of huge internal wave group wavelengths and those propagations were discussed in detail. In the research, we also made an attempt for temporal distribution of IW signatures on SAR in North Bay of Bengal.     

Structure of the crust and upper mantle of the Black and Caspian Seas

Many geophysical characteristics of the Caspian and Black Seas' deep basins are similar, having: suboceanic type of the crust, low average seismic velocity, absence of earthquakes and relatively small variation of magnetic anomalies. However, the sediments in the Caspian Sea deep basin are folded whereas in the Black Sea they are approximately horizontal. The Caspian Sea also has a far greater thickness of sediment accumulation.

The deep basins of the Caspian, Black and Mediterranean seas represent a sequence having similar crustal structures but with a decreasing thickness of sediments and consolidated layer, in that order. It is possible that the intensive sinking and accumulation of sediments began earliest in the Caspian Sea and spreaded continuously to the Black Sea and then the Mediterranean Sea. The Caspian and Black Sea deep basins have existed for long time (perhaps from Paleozoic time or even earlier) as areas with a specific and related type of evolution.     

南海东北部剪切流场对内波影响的研究进展

南海东北部受黑潮入侵、季风等动力因素的影响,背景剪切流场复杂,涡旋众多,水体垂向层结季节性变化明显,同时又因吕宋海峡的复杂底地形和强潮流的影响,内潮、内孤立波现象显著。但是,以往关于内潮、内孤立波的研究很少考虑到背景剪切流场和涡旋对其影响,因而难以揭示内波的生成、传播和演变规律。主要概述了南海东北部的剪切流、涡旋和内波等多种中尺度物理现象及其之间的相互作用的研究进展,进而提出未来关于南海东北部剪切流场对内波生成、传播和演变影响研究中的一些问题和研究思路。     

Correlation of upper quaternary deposits and paleogeography of the Black and Caspian seas

The evolution of the Black and Caspian seas is considered based on the analysis of new stratigraphic and paleogeographic data. Three transgression stages (Karangatian, Surozh, Black-Sea) and two regression stages (Post-Karangatian and New-Euxinian) were characterized for the Black Sea, as well as four transgression stages (late Khazarian, early Khvalynian, late Khvalynian, and New-Caspian) and three regression stages (Atelian, Enotaevkan, Mangyshlakian), for the Caspian Sea. The analysis of data on the absolute age of deposits allowed correlation of paleogeographic events for the basins, between them and with the stages of the Last (Valdai) Glaciation: the Karangatian and late Khazarian transgressions were correlated with the Mikulinian Interglacial; the post-Karangatian and Atelian regressions, with the Kalininan glaciation; the early Khvalynian and Surozh transgressions, with the middle Valdai Interstadial; the New-Euxinian and Enotaevkan regressions, with the Ostashkovian glaciation; the Black Sea, late Khvalynian, and New-Caspian transgression, with the late glaciation — post-glaciation periods; the Mangyshlakian regression, with the Older Dryas (?). The last connections between the Caspian and Black seas are dated to the middle Valdai time when waters of the early Khvalynian basin drained down to the Surozh basin.     

Internal Waves of Mode 2 in the Black Sea

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of the first observations of mode 2 internal waves in the Black Sea are presented. The measurements were carried out on the Crimean shelf from the MGI platform...     

Registering Fish Shoals Attracted by Solitary Intensive Internal Waves

Doklady Earth Sciences - An unusual effect of attracting fish shoals by intensive internal waves was observed in the shelf zone of the Black Sea. A shoal of fish that followed a train of intense...     

Tidal and Nontidal Oscillations in Elkhorn Slough,CA

Elkhorn Slough is a shallow, tidally forced estuary that is directly connected to Monterey Bay. It is ebb-dominated and, due to continued erosion, the tidal prism has tripled over the past 40 years. Water level measurements at four locations are used to examine tidal and nontidal oscillations in Elkhorn Slough. The tidal response of Elkhorn Slough differs from that of Monterey Bay primarily due to the generation of a relatively large number of shallow-water tidal constituents that are due to tidal distortion caused by friction along the bottom and lateral boundaries, intertidal storage, and nonlinear advection. The shallow-water constituents range from 3 to almost 15 cycles per day (cpd) and include a rich variety of overtides and compound tides, whose amplitudes generally increase toward the head of the slough. The tidal harmonics are seasonally dependent, with lower amplitudes during the fall and winter and higher amplitudes in summer. The tidal constituents were examined using two types of spectral decomposition, the conventional power spectrum and the more recent Hilbert spectrum. Unlike the power spectrum, the Hilbert spectrum does not reveal any harmonic structure in the data. Energy associated with tidal distortion in this case appears to be broadly distributed across the spectral continuum. At least four nontidal oscillations occur in Elkhorn Slough with frequencies of 26.0, 39.7, 52.7, and 66.9 cpd. The Hilbert spectrum reveals maxima at 26, 39.7, and 66.9 cpd, but not at 52.7 cpd, suggesting that it is harmonically related to the oscillation at 26.0 cpd. The nontidal oscillations fall into the range of frequencies associated with the natural oscillations of Monterey Bay. However, evolutionary power spectra indicate that they appear to be permanent features of the system and thus are not necessarily consistent with seiche-like oscillations that are often transient and subject to damping. These oscillations could be caused by several factors including edge waves along the coast of Monterey Bay, long-period surface waves of atmospheric origin that enter the bay from offshore, or breaking internal waves in and around the Monterey Submarine Canyon. In conclusion, detailed hydrodynamic models are needed to provide a better understanding of how tidal harmonics are generated and preserved in Elkhorn Slough, and to determine the origin of the natural oscillations in Monterey Bay.     

Late Cretaceous-Eocene marginal seas in the Black Sea-Caspian region: Paleotectonic reconstructions

A series of seven reconstructions is presented to illustrate the evolution of marginal seas in the Black Sea-South Caspian segment of the margin of the Tethys Ocean from the Late Jurassic to the middle Eocene. After Middle Jurassic inversion and until the Aptian Age, no marginal (backarc) basins were formed in the region, while the Pontides-Rhodope margin developed in the passive regime. The retained relict of the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic backarc basin includes the southeastern part of the Greater Caucasus, the northern part of the South Caspian Basin, and the shallow-water Kopetdagh Basin. The basins of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, Balkans (Nish-Trojan Trough), and Dobrogea developed as flexural foredeeps in front of the Middle Jurassic fold systems. The next, Aptian-Turonian epoch of opening of marginal seas was related to the origination of subduction zones at the Pontides-Rhodope margin and to the incipient consumption of the Vardar Basin lithosphere with formation of the West Black Sea Basin and its western continuation in the Bulgarian Srednogorie. The backarc rifting in the Greater Caucasus resulted in transformation of the foredeep into the backarc basin. Two basins approximately 2000 km in total extent were separated by the bridge formed by the Shatsky and Andrusov rises. The last, late Paleocene-middle Eocene epoch of the formation of backarc basins was associated with the newly formed subduction zone south of the Menderes-Taurus Terrane that collided with the active margin in the early Paleocene. The Greater Caucasus Basin widened and deepened, while to its south the East Black Sea Basin, the grabens in the Kura Depression, and the Talysh Basin, all being separated by a chain of uplifts, opened. The Paleogene South Caspian Basin opened in the course of the southward motion of the Alborz volcanic arc at the late stage of closure of the Iranian inner seas.     

Low-frequency internal waves and their influence on transmission loss variability

Analysis of the time series data collected from a stationary location in the continental shelf of the southeastern Arabian Sea during different month indicated prominent internal wave (IW) activity. Time evolution of temperature, resolved using Morlet wavelet technique, revealed that maximum energy was concentrated in the diurnal band at the density interface, whereas within the interior of thermocline, the dominant energy concentration shifted to semi-diurnal band. Both these harmonics have maximum amplitude (>15 m) during the pre-monsoon and monsoon season when the water column was highly stratified (>0.05 kg/m⁴), but they were not discernable in the temperature record when the stratification was weak (i.e., especially during winter). An acoustic propagation model based on ray theory, Bellhop (http:/oalib.hlsresearch.com/modes/acoustictoolbox/at.zip) was utilized to compute the transmission loss (TL) associated with the passage of low-frequency IWs. The TL was computed using the model considering (1) range-dependent and range-independent environmental scenario and (2) for different source and receiver depth configurations. Intermittent fading of acoustic signals was observed in the presence of IW. It was also observed that fading of signals very much depends on the source–receiver configuration.     

Deep Structure and Geodynamics of the Black Sea–Caspian Region

Geotectonics - New data on the crust structure of the Black Sea?Caspian region, including the Scythian and Anatolian plate margins, the Caucasus, Black Sea and Southern Caspian structures are...     

Modern diversity of the macroalgae of the Sea of Azov,the Black Sea,and the Caspian Sea

Currently, the species list of the macroalgae (excluding Charales) inhabiting the southern seas of Russia includes 388 species, specifically, 362 species in the Black Sea, 46 species in the Sea of Azov, and 70 species in the Caspian Sea. The species list has been increased by approximately 30% (96 species, most of them are registered in the Black Sea), compared to the data obtained 30 years ago. The green and red macroalgae of warm-water Mediterranean and tropical origin (Ceramium, Polysiphonia, Laurencia, Ulva, and Chaetomorpha) and brown algae (Sargassum and Cytoseira) were the key invaders. Nowadays the maximal species diversity is found on the Crimean coast and the Turkish coast of the Black Sea; and the species list of the Turkish coast differs significantly from all the other studied sites of the Black Sea. The number of the algae of the warm-water complex increased the most in 1990s–2000s in the Black Sea; species of boreal-tropical and subtropical origin dominate. However, such a tendency was not observed in the Sea of Azov and in the Caspian Sea, but expansion of the habitats of the brackish green algae has been registered.     

河海交互作用与黄东海域古扬子大三角洲体系研究

河海交互作用与堆积型大陆架发育,是中国海浅海地貌的主要特色。发源于世界屋脊的大河中有5条汇入中国海,源远流长,携运了巨量泥沙被阻积于岛弧背侧的边缘海中。经过漫长的新生代地质时期,尤其是在中、晚更新世堆积为陆架,并经历着全新世海侵过程中的浪流改造。作者通过近30年对区域海岸海洋研究的成果积累,逐渐认识到: 在南黄海-东海海域,分布着一个巨型的三角洲体系: 基底的大三角洲是中、晚更新世由古长江、古黄河两条世界级大河输水供沙,受季风波浪和潮流作用形成的,其发育时代应在长江贯通下游汇入黄、东海以后; 其上叠置发育了规模逐次减小的古江河三角洲、南黄海辐射沙脊群、全新世—现代长江三角洲和历史时期的废黄河三角洲,组成巨型的复合三角洲体系,表层经全新世以来海侵改造发育了波浪与潮流共同作用的沙脊地貌。大三角洲体系覆盖着东海及南黄海海底,形成大陆架表层沉积地貌。这一巨型的河-海交互作用大陆架、三角洲体系,独具特色,具有重大的研究价值。建议: 首先需进行一体化全方位的多项调查,包括遥感影像判识,水深与地震剖面探测,海底底质与钻孔取样,以及现代水文泥沙测量等,阐明其分布与环境特征;再进一步开展多学科交叉研究——地质地理、地貌、沉积、海洋动力、海平面变化与河流变迁、海洋地理信息系统等,期以阐明古扬子大三角洲体系各组成部分分布的范围、沉积组成和地貌特点,以及相互叠置关系。最终期以揭示中、晚更新世以来河-海交互作用过程与动力机制、海岸变迁与陆架堆积发育等基础科学问题,为亚太边缘海与大河相互作用的堆积型陆架发育提供实证,丰富海洋地质学理论。同时,可阐明现代海岸滩涂的蚀、淤动态,为新生土地资源规划利用,物源及陆架海疆权益维护提供重要的科学依据。     

Internal wave characteristics in the eastern Arabian Sea during summer monsoon

The time series BT profiles and surface winds and atmospheric pressure, collected in the deep waters off Ratnagiri and Karwar during summer monsoon were utilized to document the characteristics of internal waves (IW). Low-frequency (≤2, cycle per day (cpd)) IW off Ratnagiri are found to propagate at 83 cm/s with wavelengths of 45 km and wave heights upto 40 m. These parameters for high-frequency (>2 cpd) IW off Karwar correspond to 99 cm/s, 3 km and 23 m. The IW off Karwar appear to leave the station at 70° (±10°) (measured from the horizontal). The data sets were further analysed to address the harmonic composition of the IW and identify the possible sources for the observed IW fields. Power spectra of the IW indicated energy peaks at inertial (0·6 cpd) and tidal (1 and 2 cpd) frequencies off Ratnagiri and in the high-frequency band of 0·5–2·0 cycles per hour off Karwar. The coherence between the IW and wind/tide is found to be good at several frequencies within the IW spectrum. This feature probably suggests tides as a source for the IW of tidal frequencies and winds and tides as a joint source for the IW at the remaining frequencies.     

Composition of interstitial waters and forms of sulfur compounds in bottom sediments in the northeastern Black Sea

Study of sediments and water column in the Black Sea has been carried out for a long time. However, issues of the formation of seawater and sediments in the geological (ancient) and Recent marine history remain debatable so far. Studies of the physical, biological, and biogeochemical settings in the northeastern part of the Black Sea carried out onboard the R/V Professor Shtokman in 2009 yielded new data on this region. The present paper reports the results of study of the chemical composition of bottom sediments and interstitial waters from the meridional profile extending from the Kerch Peninsula to the central part of the eastern deep-water depression.     

Effect of seasonal and cyclonic winds on internal tides over the Bay of Bengal

The influence of seasonal and cyclonic winds is studied on the characteristics of internal waves (IWs) over the western Bay of Bengal (BoB) by using MITgcm model. As the BoB experiences reversal of seasonal winds and also tropical cyclones during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon months, its effect is seen through the computation of spectral estimates of the IWs. It is seen that the peak estimate is associated with the semidiurnal frequency at all the depths and is found higher in May compared to November. This is attributed to the presence of shallow mixed layer depth and deep thermocline due to the upwelling favorable winds. The computation of isopycnal displacement infers that the internal tides are present from 40 to 120 m depth in case of upwelling favorable winds of May, whereas, the presence of internal tides is restricted between 90 and 120 m for the downwelling favorable winds of November. During May, the available potential energy is also seen in a narrow coastal stretch, whilst it is absent in November. During the Hudhud cyclone period of October 7–14, 2014, it is noticed from the spectral estimates that the IWs of tidal frequency are replaced by inertial frequency with a periodicity of about 2 days as a consequence of strong cyclonic winds. The progressive vector diagram shows the mean current is initially westward up to October 17, 2014 and then northeastward with well-defined clockwise circulation. The maximum radius of inertial oscillation of 15 km is observed. After the cyclone ceases, the estimate associated with inertial frequency slowly diminishes and enhances the estimates related to internal tides. The simulations also suggest that the internal tides are absent for about 6 weeks as a response of the cyclonic winds.

     

Evolution of an active continental margin as exemplified by the Alpine history of the Caucasus

A plate-tectonics model of the Alpine evolution of the Caucasus is suggested. According to the model, in the Jurassic-Neocomian the Caucasian territory comprised the shelf of the East European platform, the marginal sea of the Great Caucasus, the Pontian-Transcaucasian island arc, the Anatolian-Minor Caucasian oceanic basin (Tethys) and the Iranian-Turkish microcontinent. Along the northern margin of the oceanic basin a convergent plate juncture extended. Part of the Caucasus, situated north of this plate boundary, represented the West Pacific-type active margin of the East European platform. In the Middle Cretaceous the Iranian-Turkish microcontinent collided with the Pontian-Transcaucasian island arc and as a result the Transcaucasian-Minor Asian continental block originated. In the central part of the latter an extensive Paleogene andesitic belt formed, with the Black Sea-Adjara-Trialetian and Talysh-South Caspian basaltic rift troughs on its rear (northern) side (incipient Black Sea and South Caspian basins). Major plate boundary shifted south, into the Zagros-Taurus basin, though the Anatolian-Minor Caucasian suture zone remained mobile in the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene. From the Oligocene, under conditions of ongoing convergence of the Eurasian and Afro-Arabian continental blocks, the present-day intracontinental mountainous foldbelt has developed.     

Mesozoic–Cenozoic Structure of the Black Sea–Caucasus–Caspian Region and Its Relationships with the Upper Mantle Structure

Geotectonics - Abstract—Mesozoic‒Cenozoic tectonic zoning and its evolution are characterized by analysis of geological data on the Black Sea–Caucasus–Caspian region. The...     

Mollusks from the lower quaternary Chauda sediments of the Black Sea

The analysis of paleontological remains in many samples from the Lower Quaternary Chauda sediments drilled and cored on the Bulgarian shelf of the Black Sea revealed widespread mollusks of the genera Didacna and Dreissena (Didacna tschaudae guriana, D. tschaudae, D. pleistopleura, D. crassa guriensis, Dreissena rostriformis tschaudae, D. rostriformis abchasica) accompanied by reworked Neogene representatives of the genus Digressodacna. In numerous places of a continental slope and an adjacent deep-sea depressions near Crimea and Caucasus the similar mollusc assemblage is described in the redeposited state for the first time. The composition of palynological spectra and diatom assemblages in shelf sediments indicates climate changes during the Chaudan period. The Chaudan mollusk fauna from the Black Sea sediments, which is lacking Caspian Bakuan species characteristic of the Chauda stratotype, is compositionally close to the mollusk assemblage from basal layers of the Chauda Horizon in the Guriya area of Georgia (“Gurian” Chauda). These data imply repeated changes in the level of the Chaudan basin between present-day isobaths of −30...−50 to −140 m.     

Paleodynamics of the southern margin of the East European craton

The tectonic and geodynamic evolution of the southern European part of Russia from the Donets Basin (Donbas) and the northern Caspian region in the north to the Mountainous Crimea and the Greater Caucasus in the south is considered. This territory embraces the southern margin of the East-European craton and the northern periphery of the Tethys Ocean, which originated in the Neoproterozoic, as well as its marginal seas till the formation of the modern Azov-Black Sea and Caspian basins.     

The Geological History of the Kerch–Taman Area Based on a Reconstructed Regional Balanced Section

The geological framework and tectonics of the East Black Sea region is characterized through balancing a geological cross-section and paleoreconstruction during the Paleogene–Neogene period. The studied area includes the Kerch–Taman trough, the Anapa Swell (a continuation of the immersed part of the Greater Caucasus Orogen), the Tuapse trough, and the Shatsky Swell. This paper is mainly focused on the Russian shelf zone of the Black Sea. The results are important for understanding the trap formation time and the preservation of hydrocarbon deposits in the Russian sector of the Black Sea shelf.